Twitter’s head of Trust and Safety, Ella Irwin, announced on Wednesday, March 29, that the company has taken down more than 5,000 tweets and retweets containing a poster promoting a “Trans Day of Vengeance” event planned for Saturday, April 1, outside the U.S. Supreme Court. The poster said “stop trans genocide.”
“We do not support tweets that incite violence irrespective of who posts them,” Irwin said. “‘Vengeance’ does not imply peaceful protest. Organizing or support for peaceful protests is ok.”
In early March 2023, Twitter updated its policy to prohibit violent speech on the site, although similar rules had been in place before Elon Musk acquired the company.
Many of the tweets that were removed were posted by Conservatives connecting the event to the Nashville school shooting, in which the shooter was trans. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene claims her account was suspended for doing so. Meanwhile, trans activists and supporters pointed out that “Trans Day of Vengeance” is a longstanding joke or meme within the community.
The protest was organized by the Trans Radical Activist Network, which stated on its website that the event is about unity and not inciting violence. The group added that it does not encourage violence and that such behavior is not welcome at the protest.
